August 15 | 15 Movies
With a velvety smooth voice and a pencil-thin mustache, actor Ronald Colman is the definition of a sophisticated gentleman.
“He was a very big star in a way that is very rare,” said actress Constance Cummings. “Really every girl’s idea of what her future husband should be if she were lucky.”
Born in England, Colman’s dreams of becoming an engineer were cut short when his father died. No longer able to afford a formal education, he began working as a shipping clerk before he enlisted in World War I. When Colman was injured in 1915 and honorably discharged, he was left trying to figure out what to do—which led him to act in the theater, according to Colman’s biography written by his daughter, Juliet Benita Colman.
Early Days of Film
After struggling as an actor on the stage, Colman made his way into films starting in 1919. But it wasn’t until 1923 that he had his breakout role in The White Sister (1923), costarring with Lillian Gish and directed by Henry King.
Gish and King saw Colman in the play, “La Tendresse” with Ruth Chatterton when they both considered him for the role. When meeting with King to discuss the role, King recommended that Colman grow a mustache, which became his signature look.
Filmed on location in Italy, many critics mistook Colman as a new Italian discovery, according to his biographer.
After The White Sister was released, Colman became a star, costarring with Hollywood’s top actresses like Constance Talmadge in Her Night of Romance (1924) or his frequent costar, Vilma Bánky.
While Colman became a big star and cinema heartthrob, in real life, he was private and only opened up to close friends, according to his biographer.
“He was unaffected. Very warm and real with no chichi or starry nonsense,” Cummings said. “He was shy about people making compliments to him or making a fuss over him, but he was a very cozy person in a way that a lot of Hollywood people are not.”
The Talkies
Audiences finally had the opportunity to hear his distinguished English accent when Colman starred in his first talkie, Bulldog Drummond (1929). Colman plays the title character, who is a sophisticated hobbyist detective. Colman and his costars, Joan Bennett and Lilyan Tashman, stood in strategic positions and spoke into hidden microphones. Colman reprised the role a few years later with Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934). Colman continued his talking picture success with Condemned! (1929), costarring with Ann Harding, and Raffles (1930), costarring with Kay Francis. Colman received two Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in the same year for Condemned! and Bulldog Drummond.
“The talkies are doing one very great thing. They are bringing drama – good drama — created by people who know how to do it — to everyone in the world at a price which is within everyone’s reach,” Colman said. “Talking pictures will never take the place of the stage to those people who are in a position to enjoy the latter. But they will mean a great deal to people who are not in the position — and still more to those who never have been.”
In 1931, Colman played his first role against type as a matter-of-fact physician in Arrowsmith (1931). Producer Samuel Goldwyn was concerned the character of Martin Arrowsmith is rather hard and not sympathetic towards his wife, played by Helen Hayes. Despite his concerns, the role was praised by audiences and critics.
“Though he was the leading star of the business then, nobody ever acknowledged what a superb actor he was,” said John Ford, who directed Arrowsmith. “They just accepted him as Ronald Colman. He did everything so easily … You didn’t have to work with Ronnie — it was that simple. He knew exactly what to do and was letter-perfect when he did it.
Colman played against type again in Cynara (1932), which didn’t go as positively. In the film, Colman plays a man who cheats on his wife, played by Kay Francis. The film was not well received by audiences because fans couldn’t accept him as an adulterer, according to his biographer.
The 1930s continued to yield significant roles for Colman, including one he had always wanted to play: Sydney Carton in the film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities (1935).
“In Sydney Carton, he (Dickens) conceived a character that only a genius would know; a whimsical, sardonic, bitterly disillusioned fellow who successfully — or almost so — masks his emotions beneath an unmoved exterior,” Colman said in an interview years before he was cast in the role. “He has lived for me since the first instance I discovered him in the pages of the novel.”
Audiences then were treated to twice the Colman when he played his double in The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). Based on a novel written by Anthony Hope, Colman plays a commoner on a fishing trip who is asked to impersonate a man who is soon-to-be-crowned king, also played by Colman. The swashbuckling adventure tale featured a star-studded cast including David Niven, Mary Astor, Madeleine Carroll, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Raymond Massey.
“Ronnie had a genuine acting talent which received far too little recognition from the critics,” Massey said. “His performances seemed so smooth and effortless that his acting was taken for granted. But this naturalness and ease were the result of meticulous preparation and technical skill.”
In 1937, Colman was offered a role that was “Ronald Colman stepping into his own image,” according to his biographer. Based on a novel by James Hilton, Colman played the lead role in Lost Horizon (1937), the sage idealist Robert Conway who wants to stay in the mystical, perfect land of Shangri-La when a plane of passengers crashes nearby.
Director Frank Capra said the only person he considered for the role of Robert Conway was Ronald Colman.
“Colman would understand Shangri-La and why he was kidnapped,” Capra said. “When we finished shooting, I knew in my bones that we had made an important film. And Ronnie thought so too. I think he felt he was revealing himself on the screen in Lost Horizon more than he ever had done or would do again.”
The War Years
Colman had lived in the United States since the early 1920s and considered becoming a United States citizen. Right before applying to become a citizen, England declared war on German in September 1939. Not wanting to appear like he was deserting his home country, Colman stayed an English citizen until his death in 1958. His wife Benita Hume — married in 1938 until his death — also remained an English citizen, according to his biographer.
Unable to serve in the military, Colman became involved with the Hollywood Victory Committee, was president of the British War Relief in Los Angeles, volunteered with the American Red Cross and participated in bond drives, according to his biographer.
He also performed in roles that differed from his previous films. While some actors starred as war heroes on film, Colman felt he would be miscast. He thought he would better help the war effort off the screen.
Instead, Colman tried his hand at lighter comedies, including Lucky Partners (1940), My Life with Caroline (1941) and The Talk of the Town (1942).
Then another memorable role came along for Colman: Random Harvest (1942), another story based on a James Hilton novel. The story follows a World War I soldier, Charles Rainier, who has lost his memory in battle. He meets Paula, played by Greer Garson, who cares for him and the two fall in love and marry. Charles eventually regains his memory but loses all memory of Paula.
“When Random Harvest came along, Ronnie and Greer were the first choice for the roles,” said the film’s director Mervyn LeRoy. “It could have been written for them.”
Colman received his third Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for Random Harvest.
He followed up Random Harvest with Kismet (1944), a tale of ancient Baghdad, costarring Marlene Dietrich. His character in the film performed several magic tricks, something he carried on in his social life after the film, according to his biographer. This same year, Colman and his wife Benita had their only child, Juliet Benita Colman.
After Kismet, Colman didn’t appear in another film until 1947. He preferred making radio appearances, such as on the “Jack Benny Program,” where Colman and Benita Hume occasionally performed as themselves as Jack Benny’s neighbors.
The Final Curtain
Colman’s next film would be The Late George Apley (1947), followed by the film he won an Academy Award for Best Actor: A Double Life (1947).
In 1954, Colman and Hume costarred as husband and wife on the television series The Halls of Ivy. Colman played a college president on the show.
His final film role would be The Story of Mankind (1957), playing the Spirit of Man, arguing with the Devil about good and evil.
“We wouldn’t have made the film without Ronnie,” said director Irwin Allen. “He was so truly the spirit of man.”
After dinner one night in May 1958, Colman told his family he wasn’t feeling well, according to his biographer. He was hospitalized the next day and died two days later at age 67.
After his death, Hume described her late husband as having “ineffable charm and romance…He had a way of tilting his head that was quizzical and delightful.”
